With the Covid-19 pandemic, the conventions will look vastly different from previous years. In this episode, Julian Zelizer and Sam Wang discuss the run-up to the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. They look at how a virtual convention might affect election coverage, voter enthusiasm, and rising political talent. Later in […] Read more »
It’s the Pandemic, Stupid! A Simplified Model for Forecasting the 2020 Presidential Election
Key Points• Two factors that historically have been helpful in forecasting presidential elections — the power of incumbency and the state of the economy — may be less useful in this year’s election, both because of long-term changes in American politics and the current public health crisis.• A forecasting model […] Read more »
Trump Is Trying to Bend Reality to His Will
Disruption, disorder and disease are gripping the United States as the 2020 election draws near, leading to an unusual degree of unpredictability about our political future. Despite current state and national polling that favors Democrats, we still can’t say for sure whether the nation will tip left or right. “Modern […] Read more »
Jason Stanley on the ‘ten pillars of fascist politics’ and media coverage of federal forces in Portland, Oregon
Yale University professor Jason Stanley, author of “How Fascism Works,” says he sees a fascist social and political movement taking hold in America’s democracy. In this conversation with Brian Stelter, Stanley says the Trump administration is “manufacturing dissent” by sending federal forces to Portland, Oregon and other cities. Stanley calls […] Read more »
The South Is Still Very Republican—But Southern Democrats Aren’t “Southern Democrats” Anymore
… In general, the change so far in the southern Democratic Party’s electoral strength has received too much attention and the change in its internal complexion has received too little. Old-style southern Democrats—the kind with rural constituencies, good-ol’-boy personas, and philosophical discomfort with the northern wing of the party on […] Read more »
Covid-19 misinformation is everywhere, but it could have been much worse
Covid-19 has taken over our lives, but it hasn’t been around for very long. Scientists have been studying it in real-time as the world collectively goes through a traumatic, world-changing event. It’s killed more than half a million people—and we don’t even know exactly where it came from. Which, on […] Read more »